New Indies Style

New Indies Style (from Dutch Nieuwe Indische Bouwstijl) is a modern architectural style used in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) between the late 19th-century through pre-World War II 20th-century. New Indies Style is basically early modern (western) architecture (e.g. Rationalism and Art Deco) which applies local architectural elements - such as wide eaves or prominent roof - as an attempt to conform with the tropical climate of Indonesia.

Even though New Indies Style refers specifically to the Dutch Rationalism movement that appeared in 1910s Indonesia, for the purpose of covering the many architectural styles that appeared during the brief early modern period, the term is used as a general term for all the architectural styles that appear between the late 19th-century to pre-World War II 20th-century.

The attempt to synthesize Dutch architecture with Indonesian local architecture had already started since the 18th-century. Heavy maintenance of the 17th-century Dutch-style buildings in the tropics had forced the Dutch to follow examples from indigenous architecture of Indonesia. The attempt first appears in the Dutch Indies country houses of the 18th and 19th-century, a style academically known as Indo-European (Indo-Europese) Style or Indies Style (Indisch Stijl), also Old Indies Style (Oud Indische Stijl) to distinguish it with the newer style.

The birth of the New Indies Style was related with the introduction of new building material, the rise of Modernism and the introduction of the Agrarian Law of 1870 in Java. The new law opened Java to foreigners, enabling them to establish private enterprises in the Dutch East Indies. A new type of buildings, developments and standards have to be implemented in the Dutch East Indies. The colonial government, under the Departement voor Burgerlijke Openbare Werken (Public Works Department), developed new standards for the construction of buildings - such as hospitals, schools, town halls, post offices, and other public utilities - to consider local (tropical) climate as a mean to reduce the cost of building construction and maintenance cost. One of the earliest example is The Harbour Master’s Office in Semarang from early 19th-century example.

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